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[Obsolete] 4-8-4 Heavy Cargo Locomotive 'Bison' [0.7]

Updated the blueprint to 0.7 version, keeping as much of the original design as possible.
1. The suspension has been replaced with X-RAI spring suspension by Xaerthus.
2. The transmission has been replaced with more compact one.
3. The wheels were moved one block inward.
4. The locomotive is ready to go 'as is'.
As a result of physics adjustments in 0.7 version and updated mods the max speed of this locomotive is now about 110km/h.

Other our locomotives can be found here: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1692456187.
Our train cars can be found here: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1691687874.

Sometimes the hilly ME planets force the engineers to accept the necessity of building the rail lines with grade of 10% or higher. On those, even the 2-engine locomotives have very limited capabilities. For such situations I present you a 3-engine unit built to actually resemble real life steam locomotives. It is capable of hauling of over 140 tonnes of cargo over 10% grade up slope and over 200T of 5-6% grade. It borrows a lot from Xaerthus's heavy locomotive design https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1603674360 and ends up a quite similar in appearance to blueprints by Johnbeere https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1613717487, although it differs in several key elements from both.
* In order to drive more smoothly over curves and decrease the continuous jumping of the unit the wheel base is increased from 6 blocks to 8. This allows to hide the rope belt connections behind the wheels, protecting them from damage. The width of the locomotive is a little over 8 blocks, which allows it to fit within 1 large block gap.
* The engines have the same orientation. Despite them being connected it is still quite easy to access the 'fireboxes' of the two forward ones. One just need to approach them from the side right in front of the connection points (highlight of the small portion of the firebox is still visible).
* I've resigned from the front plow, preferring standardized connection allowing to operate the locomotive without the turntable. The chest and planks on the front double up as a convenient ramp allowing to access the top of the locomotive for maintenance (starting the engines, connecting remote controls).
* The train connection points are put directly on bogies instead of the main frame to avoid excessive shearing forces on curvy mountain routes. This however puts a lot of forces on the suspensions and the change to the alternative might be eventually better.
* For better performance at high speeds (especially when passing the switches) while hauling heavy cargo I used more rigid bogie suspension, also adding a 'support frame' rigidly connecting the front and rear suspension assemblies.
* The operator cabin is more compact, which allows the engine to operate in narrower tunnels. While the cabin is a bit cramped, it allows for sufficient visibility. The roof makes the 3rd person view to work as 1st person head rotation.
* At high speeds while pulling heavy cargo the bogies are partially sinking and skewing. Despite the graphical appearance I've not noticed any derailing issues.
After the suspension upgrade the bogies are kept level.

This blueprint is a prefab: comes with all the shafts rigidly connected and without the wheels. The setup requires couple of steps:
1. Paste the prefab on the level track.
2. Connect the ropes as indicated on the illustrations.
3. Remove the planks connecting the driving wheel axles.
4. Mount 8 medium reinforced bombard wheels on the axles. There re two orientations:
- if you are a bit patient and need the locomotive narrow put it 'build side' to the inside.
- if you are impatient and can live with machine of width almost 10 blocks put it 'build side' to the outside (facing you).
By 'build side' I mean here the side on which you can place blocks (outside of the axis).
4.a) Now put on each wheel 4 rope eye plates as indicated on the last illustrations (using the spectator build if needed). These rope eyes will not be connected to anything. They just serve as wheel protection and additional 'grippers'.
5. Remove two planks (marked by red dots) connecting the suspension frame with the main grid.
6. Remove the planks connecting the engine shaft.
7. Fuel all three units accessing the back one from the cabin and the two forward ones from the sides.

Operation hints:
* Unless you are indeed hauling over 100 tonnes over a mountain pass it is not necessary to run all three engines. For most operations starting just one or two is sufficient.
* Depending on the total weight of the train the weight of the locomotive needs to be adjusted by putting weights into chests located between the driving wheel axles. With 3 engines and just 8 wheels the locomotive is a bit overpowered and some mass in these chests will be useful even if the locomotive runs empty, especially on the steeper lines.

PS: The use of 3 engines is actually a 'side effect' of trying to make the loco look as proper 4-8-4. After all, all three of them are necessary if one wants to haul 8 stacks of large stones up 10% slope ...

The use of Balloons and Sconces mods is optional.

--- Update 10.01.2019 ---
Upgraded suspension to more rigid in order to prevent bogie pitching at high loads.

--- Update 12.01.2019 ---
Added attachment for rope stabilization of the suspension. To set it up one needs to temporarily remove the front chest, central part of the rear access ramp and some timbers protecting the rear guiding suspension (as on the illustrations). This setup should be performed after the original setup is completed. Using this stabilization will reduce the jumping to (practically) a shaking and improve the sustained speed a bit, however it will cause EXTREME wear on the wheels during operations. Therefore, this should be considering a tuning and it VOIDS A WARRANTY on the machine. For safe operations (no, there is no 'safe operations' here), in order to have ANY hope of reaching the destination alive the wheels and the bogies should be examined (and, if necessary, repaired) at every station stop and with longer routes every couple of kilometers. Neglecting that will result in the locomotive taking the form as in the last illustration.. After an extensive research (main credit to Xaerthus) we are able to extend our warranty also to this feature.

--- Update 14.01.2019 ---
Added a composition of the empty rope eye plates on the wheels. The protection and additional grip offered by their hitboxes allows to increase the maximal speed to 70-75km/h without damaging the wheels.

---- Update 6.04.2019 ----
Updated the blueprint to 0.7 version.